Archive for July, 2015

The latest earnest issue being feverishly discussed in our media is the almost universal condemnation of the booing of star AFL footballer Adam Goode.

The whole tone of debate on this issue is quite suffocating.

Everyone is wondering why: and at the same time condemning it. Like most public debates when there are calls of racism, NO ONE seems to want to understand it. The irony of this is that it will lead to inflaming things further.

If we really want to know why there is condemnation for this man then read what the people who are doing it say about him and try to understand rather than silence.

A flood of letters to The Australian basically said it was Goodes’ own fault. In summary:

Calling someone an ape is a throw away line used on anyone, regardless of origin, especially in football matches.

Goode made a fool of himself by bullying a 13 year old girl.

Authorities then chose to make her a national disgrace

Punters don’t like people playing the race card, on or off the field

If he can’t stand the heat he should get another job — such as politics

Clearly, this has nothing to do with race, it has everything to do with personality. It may be hard for Goode but he should not hide behind being Aboriginal. That would be racist.

UPDATE

Andrew Bolt pings the racist double think of the Left with a comment this morning about Tim Soutphommasane praising a war dance by Adam Goodes as “just having pride” and criticising another by white Australians as “suspicious”.

In a similar vein, the outstanding commentator Paul Sheehan from the SMH points out that the accusation of “racism” is one of the most poisoned accusation used almost exclusively by the Left to close down debate and allow open questioning. As a consequence it pours petrol onto the fire:

First among those is Andrew Pridham, a merchant banker, who is chairman of the Swans. He delivered this message to the public this week via Fairfax Media, “If you’re booing Adam Goodes, I’ve got bad news for you: you’re a racist”.
I’ve got bad news for Pridham: indiscriminate, heated, sanctimonious accusations do not help.
Then there is Jason Mifsud​, the most senior Indigenous official with the AFL. He has proposed that all Indigenous AFL players perform a war dance in support of Goodes. This suggestion is, at best, dubious and, at worst, dense.
Third, and most egregious, is Victoria’s Premier, Daniel Andrews, who said, “He is being booed by people, not all, but many of them, because they have no respect for him and no regard for him as an Aboriginal man and that is shameful”.
Andrews, Pridham, Mifsud and others should know that when you invoke blanket accusations of racism – or homophobia or xenophobia, for that matter – the chances of winning the argument are diminished and will harvest resentment towards blunderbuss reactions.